It's a bouzouki.
Dave H
Eastman 615 mandola
2011 Weber Bitteroot A5
2012 Weber Bitteroot F5
Eastman MD 915V
Gibson F9
2016 Capek ' Bob ' standard scale tenor banjo
Ibanez Artist 5 string
2001 Paul Shippey oval hole
Is this an Italian bouzouki? A bouzouki has a flat top, and this one looks neopolitian because it has an arch on the bottom of the top.
I think it is an octave mandolin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octave_mandolin
Alright, here's the next question: on the feedstock right near the first fret, says Made in Italy. Why is there no maker's mark on this instrument?
Headstock. Sorry about that "feedstock". Its the auto correct
It was made to be sold by a third party and thus was unbranded although many retailers did have their own brands.
How do we know how old it is? The inside of the bowlback has some sort of fabric tape overlapping one another covwring the bowl.
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Covering
Also do any of you have the same type of instrument like this? The website didn't have any pictures similar to it except the shorter bowlback mandolin.
That is typical of bowlback construction over the years- and decades- paper was used as well. Judging by the tuner buttons it was made in the 1960s or 1970s- it could be even newer. You might like to photograph the tuner units. However, this is not a very old instrument.
Larry Hunsberger
2013 J Bovier A5 Special w/ToneGard
D'Addario FW-74 flatwound strings
1909 Weymann&Sons bowlback
1919 Weymann&Sons mandolute
Ibanez PF5
1993 Oriente HO-20 hybrid double bass
3/4 guitar converted to octave mandolin
The scale length will define what sort of instrument it is. If it is 25-27 inches it is a Bouzouki- as pointed out, the octave mandolin is shorter. It would be probably a modern example made for Irish music. Those tuners look really modern- 1980s or even more recent.
Those tuners look to me as though they’re replacements (....or the manufacturer was saving money on screws).
It looks like a bouzouki so it likely is a bouzouki. Italy isn’t that far from Greece!
Scale length from top of headstock to bottom of body is 38"
That wouldn't be the scale length.
Somebody had to build all those nameless bouzouki's they sold to the tourists in Greece. I'm sure they are probably made in China now.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
... is the vibrating length of the string, before compensation is applied. It can be approximated by measuring from the bridge to the nut (at the headstock), but more correctly (to eliminate the compensation caused by stretching the string in the act of fretting) is measured by doubling the length from the nut to the 12th fret. That's a bit shorter (maybe 1/8"?) than the actual vibrating length from bridge to nut.
With a 38" overall length, the scale probably falls into the noted 25" to 27" area.
Not necessarily definitive (folks can put any string anywhere!), but bouzoukis usually have octaved lower courses, as this one appears to have; each wound string is paired with a lighter non-wound string tuned to the same note an octave higher.
- Ed
"Then one day we weren't as young as before
Our mistakes weren't quite so easy to undo
But by all those roads, my friend, we've travelled down
I'm a better man for just the knowin' of you."
- Ian Tyson
Sorry, the scale length is 26 and a half inches, overall length is 38". So its kinda like a bouzouki, but with a neopolitian body mix. I assume from what you're saying is its like a hybrid
So how well does it play/sound?
Fine. Is that what you are asking?
Although it needs just new strings. I am wondering the correct strings for this "italian/Irish bouzouki. I got another instrument also from Italy from an old musician who just gave it to me. Its a 1968 Catania Carmelo 4 string banjo tenore
It is a bouzouki. It's not a hybrid. They are made with the bowl backed body style traditionally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouzouki
Obviously this Italian builder used the same forms he uses to make mandolins but it isn't all that different even with the canted top.
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
Where can I find string replacements for this?
One place would be:
https://www.juststrings.com/dad-j97....iABEgIO5_D_BwE
"It's comparable to playing a cheese slicer."
--M. Stillion
"Bargain instruments are no bargains if you can't play them"
--J. Garber
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